We Seven Sinners
by turtlehoffmann2251
Summary: Virtue shall not be found amongst such people as we have become.
1. With Will Comes Sin

"I have come to accept myself for what I am: human. I am not perfect. I am not immune to fate, but I am not automatically doomed for being alive. I feel temptations every second of every day and I am not controlled by them. I do what I want anyway, so who is to say I want anything else? When I want, I let these peculiarities run across me like dogs to their masters. When I do not, I keep them at bay with my will and my testimony. I do not cut myself off from what makes me feel; I just refuse to feel anything that cuts me off from what matters most. It is called will power. With a little practice, you can accomplish great things."

― Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good


	2. Wrathful Storm

_**Wrath - Fon**_

 _"love of justice perverted to revenge and spite"(Dante in Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri)_

 _"As passion goes, wrath—or rage—is nearly indistinguishable from love in its intensity, the two epic ends of the maelstrom that makes us human."_

 _― Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

He is often thought to be a rain at first glance.

This is easily disproved.

There is a reason that he has been classified as a storm.

 **He is in every aspect a wrathful storm.**

It is for the way he can let his anger build and build and _build_ only to explode with deadly force.

It is for how he stands calm in the chaos of his fellow Guardians.

It is for his hands that easily break necks and that can brew chamomile tea.

It is for his devastating words that slip out without meaning insult.

It is for how he reacts to an attack upon his family or an innocent civilian.

It is for the way he walks without making a sound, yet his presence is felt by all who have ever seen a true predator.

It is for his hatred of small talk and small minded individuals.

It is for the blood that stains his hands.

It is for how his smiles are always a bit too _sharp._

It is for his smooth transition from total stillness to blurred motion.

It is for the debris and heartache left on the path that he has walked.

It is for his constant surveyance of his surroundings and his fierce eyes.

It is for his inability to be truly at peace, never truly at rest.

It is for how he is fearful of being around his loved ones, for fear of unintentionally _shredding_ the bonds that he has managed to scrape together.

It is for how he shakes and whimpers into the night when he finally manages to drift off to sleep.

It is for how he loses a piece of himself for every life he takes, yet he still takes more.

It is for his ability to justify his killings.

It is for his inability to look in a mirror without smashing his fist into it.

It is for the way his eyes flash and his teeth grind.

It is for how he rages and howls and crushes those who attempt to harm what is his.

It is for all of these reasons that he is a storm.


	3. Gluttonous Lightning

_**Gluttony**_ \- _**Verde**_

 _"Gluttony_ \- _that's my vice & curse. I want too much of everything. Books... Love... Music..._ _Color &_ _Form... Philosophy... Travel & Adventure... the result of this bestial lust is the indiscriminate and promiscuous splaying of my energies_ \- _wanting all, I accomplish nothing; desiring everything, I satisfy nothing and am satisfied by nothing."(Author: Edward Abbey)_

" _I_ _will not be a man satisfied until I_ _am a man exhausted."_

― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

I _hunger._

I hunger for truth and perfection.

I hunger for all that seems unattainable.

I _thirst._

I thirst for logic and reason.

I thirst for that all that I am unable to grasp.

There is nothing that is capable of filling my aching mind.

There is nothing capable of quenching my unending dehydrated soul.

So I _take._

I take the texts of the ancients for research

I take the resources that I need for testing.

I take the designs of those unworthy of them.

I take the steps that I need to take to get what I want.

It is not enough.

It is never enough.

It will never be enough.

 _I_ will never be enough.

So I build.

I grow.

I make.

I harvest.

I take.

And take.

And _take._

Forever I will take.

I will never fall under the weight of my wants.

I will not allow it.

I will _win._

That is what I do.

"Do whatever it takes to win."

I will never fall under the weight of their wants.

We are all gluttons for knowledge.

The kind that we reach for and the way we go about it is what determines the severity of the crime.

I am one of the seven most powerful people in the world.

I got here the hard way.

Surely I deserve to indulge myself.

 _No?_

Then I will deal with you as I have dealt with the others who have stood in the way of my pursuits.

We seven are sinners.

How else can one become great?

I _will_ get what I want,

Even if it kills you.


	4. Envious Cloud

**_Envy_** \- _**Skull**_

 _"Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another's prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a_ _circle of fire, will sting itself to death."(CHARLES CALEB COLTON, Lacon)_

 _"What a_ _day it is when we must envy the men in their graves."(JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE, The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe)_

" _I_ _want karma to drive stakes into the dark hearts that keep me bitter."_ ― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

Wanting for what others hold came to him during his childhood.

A small child, chilled by the wind and snow of his home country; he is unable to recall a time where he was held or coddled. He would have had to have a family for that to happen.

Abandoned or orphaned, he is unsure. There was no one there to confirm it for him. He has always been alone. _Unwanted._

Those who saw his shivering form on the streets sneered and spit, or merely pretended that he was not there at all. It was not an unusual thing to see the undesirables curled up beside a dumpster or a stack of crates.

He had no name. There was no one that _cared_ enough to give him one.

He had nothing.

 _He was nothing._

It embittered him, rotted his core. He had no use for such a thing as _innocence;_ it would not fill his stomach or the pit that seemed to grow with each passing day.

His days were long, despite the hours of daylight declaring otherwise. Time stretched and warped with his hunger and loneliness being the only thing to occupy him.

Sure, he scavenged for food and didn't often have a minute to spare if he wanted to reach the best place to rest for the night, but that did not mean that he enjoyed such a life. It was harrowing and listless.

So he _watched._

He watched the people who passed by. Watched those who sneered and spit and growled.

He _saw._

He saw their joy and laughter. He saw their smirks and their whining.

He _wished._

He wished that he were those people. He _ached_ for such a life. They lived lives that were filled to the brim with emotion.

To be able to live in such a way that they would be missed in death seemed most wonderful.

He wanted all that they had and more. He wanted to be greater than them; to be a _god_ that they loved and feared.

No one would give him this. He would have to take it for himself. He would have to grow and become a god on his own. He would, or he would die trying.

He shaped himself into what could bring about his preferred outcome. He made a mask that would bring him closer to his goal, closer to having what everyone selfishly held to themselves.

He donned the mask of the fool, the _Joker._ He painted himself with the colors of a child spoilt with too many "Yes, dear."s. He dove headfirst into a character that held no care for his own wellbeing. He carved out a perfect lackey.

He must be great, no matter the cost.

He is Skull De Mort, and _no one_ is safe from his ever grasping hands.


	5. Greedy Mist

**_Greed_** \- **_Viper_**

 _"Selfishness and greed, individual or national, cause most of our troubles._ "– _(Harry S_. _Truman)_

 _"Life owes you nothing._ You _owe yourself everything."_ ― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

To watch all that you love fall before you makes you grasp tighter upon that which falls into your hands.

I know this.

I know this with my very _being._

I am a possessive, sharp-toothed _beast._ I will not allow for such a thing to befall me once again.

I was once a far kinder, far more trusting person. I would laugh and cry and sing. I would pout and plead for a bit more strawberry milkshake. I would pick wildflowers for the vase that mother always put on our worn, wooden table. I would skip around the pond with my beloved sister. I would grin as I curled up between my parents, my adoring sister resting her head on my lap.

That was _ripped_ from me with taloned fingers and yellowed teeth grinning down at me.

My sweet and loving little sister, _disfigured then strangled._

My always smiling mother, _slowly bled dry._

My stern and intelligent father, _the one who did it all._

He smiled a proud smile down at me at the end of it. Then, he brought the gun to his temple and was lost in oblivion.

Through it all, I was silent, an observer. It shall forever be engraved into my mind; I would not wish it to be any other way. Without this act it would not have seen the world for all that it is; the world is beautiful and oh so cruel.

I am unsure as to why he did it, or as to why I was left behind. I will never know.

I _never_ will allow such a travesty to occur once more. I will hold all of the cards. I will be the one in control.

As such, I collect.

I collect all that I find interesting, be that money, information, or people; they will be _mine_ or they will be _no one's at all._

I count them, my beloved items. Ensure the safety of them over and over and _over._

I _will not_ lose another of those that I find precious.

I grab tight,

and,

once I do,

you will have to pry it from my _cold, dead hands._


	6. Lustful Rains

**Lust** \- _**Collonello/Lal**_

 _"Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust._ " _-(Marquis De Sade)_

 _"Our proximity keeps us honest. Our intentions keep us strangers."_

― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

One craves for _acknowledgement_ from the other,

While the other craves _companionship_ from the one.

Their desires are not nearly so different,

As they might think.

They _lust_ for one another,

If not quite in the same way.

Both are soldiers,

In heart and mind.

And neither wants the other,

To leave them behind.

They don't have many connections or things that hold their affections,

For which they would live.

And so they hold all the tighter,

To one another.

They covet the hold that they have,

On a human that so many others have been unable to near.

One would sacrifice all that they have and hold,

So long as it would keep the other from leaving.

They are both inherently selfish and sinful,

And this truth makes it all the better for each.

To know that someone so incredibly _strong,_

Would willingly fall in order to be close.

They may not be fond of themselves at the end of the day,

But at least they will lie down with the knowledge that there was _someone_ who coveted their existence.

So they will close their eyes,

And drift of to sleep with the one another in mind.

For the heart wants,

What the mind needs.

And desire and _love,_

Are such truly sinful things.


	7. Proud Sun

_**Pride**_ **-** _**Reborn**_

" _A_ _proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."―_ ( _C.S._ _Lewis, Mere Christianity)_

 _"We have stopped giving adulation to the truly talented and started giving it to the truly average in the hope that by lowering the bar, we ourselves might be eligible for the fame and glory."_ ― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

What does it mean to be great, to be a god?

Does it mean benevolence?

Does it mean forgiveness?

Does it mean acceptance?

Or does it mean ascending beyond all other beings who deign to call themselves human?

If it is the last, then surely I am a god.

Certainly.

I am the _Greatest_ after all.

I am strong enough to uplift _(or to crush)._

I am smart enough to teach _(or to sabotage)._

I am beautiful enough to enchant _(or to ensnare)._

I am agile enough to catch wild game _(or to catch_ _a_ _traitor)._

I am not kind.

I am not understanding.

I am not loving.

 _Still._

Even then, I must be a god.

There is none who better fit the role.

I tower above lackies and fools.

I eradicate swine and dispose of tools.

I give hardship and teach tough lessons.

I have to be god.

I _must_ be.

I am.

I am powerful.

I am feared.

I am worshipped.

I am god.

I have to be.

I must be.

Why else would I have _struggled_ so?

Why else would, would I be burdened with such power?

Why else would I be so _alone?_

Why else would there be no answer to my prayers.

I am god.

There is no one else to take such a role.

No one _willing._

I must take pride in my job.

If I don't then is I will be crushed under the weight of is it all.

I am proud of myself.

I am powerful.

I am strong.

I am god.

I have to be.

I must be.

I

Am

 _God._


	8. Slothful Sky

**_Sloth -_** _ **Luce**_

 _"For Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." ("Against Idleness and Mischief" by Isaac Watts)_

 _"You can have the best intentions in the world, but if you do nothing, you are nothing. It is_ a _harsh glare to shed that kind of light, but in my heart that is pure reality for me. How does the quote go? "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." This is the downside to the longevity of sloth. It is an exit on a_ _highway that leads to the worst parts of town."_ ― _Corey Taylor, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good_

The blind wish to see,

As the deaf wish to hear.

I see too much,

Hear too much.

I am merely the newest in the line of many powerful, strong Seers. Such Sight comes at a steep, debilitating cost. As such, it is seen as a _curse_ more often than it is seen as a blessing. Perhaps even a genetic _disease_ that eats away at the the mind and the soul. My mother always referred to it as the _'Present of the Future'._ I refer it as the _'Curse of those Passed'._

This Sight was bestowed upon me by my mother, her by her own and so on.

Mother's eyes were always encircled by a deep, painful looking bruise. Her hands always shook even when held in my own. Her skin never darker than an ashen grey and her hair dull and listless. She had trouble remembering things and people. She often was overwhelmed by depression or inexplicable glee.

Her _'Present'_ was rather strong and her body and mind all the weaker for it.

She passed on the gift unwillingly, not unknowingly. Despite the knowledge of what she would pass on, she wished for children. She longed for someone to hold and to understand her pain, as her mother had died during her birth and was naught but portrait in a frame now. Mother got her child.

I wish she hadn't.

And yet I will do the same, as will my child. It is _written_ and even my Sight is not good enough to be able to look past it. There is no escaping fate. I know this. I have _tried._

* * *

Before my eyes had fully opened, before I was fully cognizant, I knew. I knew what was going to happen.

I could see the person behind the closed door. The present in the wrapping paper. The shards of the unbroken mirror on the floor bloodied with the guts of the guards holding me in their hands.

It was _normal._

 _It was my life._

I was six when I first met another child. She was a year older and far less mature. She was crying as she came through the front door. I Saw that she would not be done for a while, so I greeted her parents and then left.

I didn't realize that it was rude, since I did stuff like that all the time with the guards and the maids. So when Mother scolded me I didn't understand her anger or frustration.

I couldn't really control my Sight all that much, so I merely guessed that Mother would explain it later.

I met my first kidnapper that same day. I Saw him before I _saw_ him.

He had a lot of those shiny sharp things that Mother wouldn't let me use.

He used them.

I Saw him use it on Mother. Then I _saw it._

Mother didn't get to explain it to me.

* * *

From then on, I tried to change things. To shift events.

I only cemented them.

I tried to circumvent the deaths of all of my favorite guards. _Tried._

 _Oh, did_ _I_ _try._

Then I realized, nothing I tried had any effect. Or rather, I was incapable of changing that which I desperately wished to change. Once I realized that, it felt as though the weight had lifted off my shoulder while my stomach dropped to the depths of the ocean. A strange feeling that I have only recently come to categorize as _relieved devastation._

This changed everything.

I stopped.

I stopped trying.

What was the _point?_ It had no _effect._ I could _change nothing._ I am not a warrior. Not strong. I am a visionary. An artist. A _scribe._

The stars are unable to be rewritten. I am not nearly so powerful as to go against such an all-encompassing _flow._ A river deep and roaring yet placid to those unable too see it for its depths.

So I went along.

I met my Weathers.

I became Cursed as they did.

And I cursed my child.

I had no choice. It was already set in stone. It was unchangeable.

 _Irrefutable._

I am not a bad person. I merely played my part in this play. I wasn't the only one to follow the script, even if I was the only to See all that was written. I was not the only one to read my lines and to jump on cue. We all played along.

Reborn,

Lal and Colonello,

Viper,

Skull

Verde,

Fon.

 _We all did._


End file.
